


The Light That Never Goes Out

by spattergroit



Category: Ghostbusters (2016)
Genre: 80s Music, Camping, F/F, holtzmann serenading patty, no ghosts!, patty enjoying it, toltzmann, which i know nothing about
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-22
Updated: 2016-08-24
Packaged: 2018-08-10 10:12:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,380
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7840747
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spattergroit/pseuds/spattergroit
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Holtzmann succeeds on getting Patty to go camping with her. And then of course, she gets lost.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Animal Magnetism

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know anything about camping but I tried my hardest to make sure to make the best sense of things. Thank you guys for your reviews, kind words, and encouragement. Most particularly for my new friend [cassiopeiasara](http://archiveofourown.org/users/cassiopeiasara/pseuds/cassiopeiasara) who understands my downward (or should I say upward) spiral into Toltzmann!

Patty stood looking at Holtzmann with an expression on her face that clearly that was not one of amusement.

"We're lost, aren't we?"

Holtzmann pursed her lips and tapped them with her pointer finger. She gazed around at the abandoned area and made a soft "hmm" sound as if she were deep in thought.

"Human compass my ass, we're lost!" Patty yelled, looking up to the darkening sky.

 

**.:two weeks ago:.**

 

It was decided unanimously that the Ghostbusters needed a break.

Patty had just spent the consecutive fourth week in a row complaining about the weight of the proton pack on her back. She had seemingly forgotten that she was not the only woman in the building running through New York City with fifty pounds latched on to her back.

Finally, during the fourth week - Abby had had enough.

"Patty, you keep bringing this problem up but I gotta' tell ya', the weight isn't going to change unless you personally do something about it."

"You tryin' to say something," Patty's voice was dangerously low.

Although Holtzmann and Erin were extremely quiet, so quiet in fact, that it seemed completely out of character - both women were watching the exchange very closely.

When Abby stood up from the stool and rolled up a sleeve, Erin stood and held up her hands up in the "time-out" signal.

"Ladies, could we just not do this at this particular moment? Holtz has a lot of equipment in here that could literally explode and kill us and well, I'm not sure if you're ready for that to happen but I'm not particularly ready to be busted by another generation of Ghostbusters."

Patty smiled and held her arms out in a very casual shrug, "Oh I'm not trying to fight Abby. I'm just making sure she's not over there writing checks her ass can't cash."

"Ohhh! I'll write that check! I'll write a check so fat you can pay a mortgage with it!" Abby pointed at Patty over Erin's shoulder.

Patty narrowed her eyes in observation of Abby and then a smile revealed itself on her lips. The smile only grew into a grin and soon she was laughing. It was infectious. Abby was soon laughing, too, shaking her head and moving her arms around. Erin gave light chuckles. Holtzmann also laughed, blond curls bobbing rhythmically.

"I think it's safe to say that we need a vacation," Abby finally finished after they had a chance to catch their breath.

Everyone was agreeing. Even Kevin put his hand in the air to show that he agreed with them. 

"So, I guess we should work out a vacation then."

"Well, we have to figure out how we're going to get the time off," Abby folded her arms. "Sure, we need a break but ghosts never take a day off."

Patty nodded her head.

"But the problem is that we need a break before we all become ghosts."

Holtzmann put her hand in the air and walked all the way over from the containment chambers, casually swinging it from side to side.

"Shoot, Holtzy," Patty watched her.

Holtzmann brought her arm down military style, clasped her hands behind her back and began to pace the center of the room.

"We all need vacations but we have time issues. I nominate that two of us go on vacation first and then swap out when we return back to the firehouse." Her head snapped in Patty's direction while Erin and Abby exchanged knowing glances.

Patty's eyebrows shot up when Holtzmann centered her attention on her.

"You want to go on vacation the same time as me?"

"Why yes I do," Holtzmann nodded her head. She walked over to Patty and stood a few inches away from her face, "We have the best time together and you know the history of _everything_. It would be an honor to go on vacation with you."

"I was thinking about just going to the beach." Patty wasn't even phased by Holtzmann's close proximity to her face. These days, everyone was used to this.

"Can we also go camping?"

Patty pulled away from Holtzmann and laughed.

"Patty does a lot of things but she don't do camping."

In fact, the last time she'd gone camping was with her cousins and she absolutely hated it. Being outside was only great if there was a hotel nearby.

Holtzmann put her hands together in a praying motion and placed them just under her chin and grew a very serious expression, "What are these things that Patty does?"

"Holtzmann, I don't want to go camping."

"Well, who's going to go camping with me?"

"You can go with Kevin," Patty said casually then she caught herself, realizing what she was saying and shook her head. "No, you can't go with Kevin because we'll never see you guys again."

Toltzmann and Kevin had sort of become best friends as their shared time grew, which was just as good because none of the other women had the patience to babysit Kevin throughout the day. They had bonded over their mutual interests (see: crushes) in Patty. Not that Patty had known about the fan club created between the two of them but chances were, if she did know she would be just fine with the attention.

"Patty, you won't be disappointed! I promise! I'm like a... a...human compass!" Her eyes went wide with delight as she said it.

Patty was unconvinced.

"No but honestly I do think she has a magnetized needle in her arm," Abby stated very seriously. Erin frowned at her but she was still nodding very seriously.

"See, this is how it works out. You and Erin can go on your vacations and also visit your family in Michigan to knock that out. Two birds one stone. And Patty and I can go camping and then to the beach. I'm dying to see your swimsuit collection."

She really had no bit of shame about her.

Not that Holtzmann ever divulged in any backstory about her past but Patty and the rest of the group had kind of put things together. Holtzy was a lone wolf. She had been for years until she met Abby. And for some reason, ever since Times Square she latched on to Patty like a shadow. Patty didn't mind it one bit. The verdict around the firehouse was that eventually Holtzmann was going to get Patty to marry her anyway, so obviously she couldn't say no to that half-dimpled face when she asked if she could accompany her on the camping trip.

"I can't believe I'm agreeing to this," Patty shook her head. "I can't believe I'm doing this," she had to repeat it to make sure this was something that was really happening.

Patty Tolan and Jillian Holtzmann were vacationing. Together.

"Well I think I'm going to the mall and get me some things for this vacation," Patty said. She pushed herself up to her full height and walked off, still shaking her head in complete disbelief.

Holtzmann followed behind her, eyes glued to Patty's back, "Patricia, it's going to be an honor to go on vacation with you. The _highest_ of honors."

When Patty walked off, Holtzmann turned around to Abby and Erin.

"How did you get her to agree so easily?" Abby asked through a laugh.

"It's my animal magnetism," Holtzmann popped her suspenders with her thumbs and headed back to her small work station.


	2. The Toltzmann Connection

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holtzmann succeeds on getting Patty to go camping with her. And then of course, she gets lost.

It had only taken Holtzmann thirty minutes to pack for her camping trip. But Patty, being the person that she was had packed for every possible outcome that could happen.

"So do you have the tents?" She had asked Holtzmann one afternoon, when the two women were in her apartment sitting before a gathering of camping supplies.

"Tents?" Holtzmann asked, genuinely confused.

“Yeah because we have to have somewhere to sleep. Did you think we were going to camp outside on the ground?”

"Why wouldn't we use sleeping bags? Or one sleeping bag!" Holtzmann held up a finger and wriggled it at Patty.

"Patty don't do sleeping bags."

Holtzmann only frowned in confusion.

“Okay that's fine, but why are we going to get two tents when we could just share? Is that in the budget? Two tents?”

Patty knew where this was going and what the plan was. And the real secret was that she didn't mind. She didn't mind when Holtzmann tried to show her the proper way to hold her proton gun after they fought that beast in the concert venue, standing behind her and wrapping her arms around her waist. And she didn't mind that Holtzmann continuously made a point to announce that Patty had saved her life three times. And she didn't mind that this woman had a crush on her either.

"One tent is fine."

"And you think we need a tent?"

So it had taken Patty just a bit longer (two days, actually) to make sure they were fully packed and ready to go.

After the send off by Erin, Abby, and for some reason a very moody Kevin, Patty and Holtzmann were in the Ecto-3 and on their way to Grayson Springs. When Patty asked Holtzmann why they were headed to Grayson Springs, she simply stated that it was a place she went growing up. And Patty went with that and didn’t question her more.

In the car, Holtzmann pressed play on their newly souped up surround system in the car and "Crush on You" by The Jets began to play.

"It's only fitting to go on a Patty and Holtzmann road trip with my Patty Playlist."

Patty was actually shocked.

"You created a Patty Playlist?"

Holtzmann nodded her head and put a leg up, resting her foot by the handlebar mirror.

"And does anyone else have a playlist?"

"Nope," she replied matter-of-factly.

Patty looked at her like she was seeing her for the first time and Holtzmann pretended that the woman wasn't gazing at her. She was trying very hard to stay cool as a cucumber.

"Are you trying to say something with this music selection?" Patty asked.

Holtzmann looked at her and winked. And just like that, the humor was back and Patty could only shake her head. She couldn’t get Holtzmann to be serious if she wanted to.

Patty cranked up the car and the two women were off.

On the way, while the music blasted and Holtzmann loudly munched on Nacho Cheese Doritos, Patty shared the story of Jebediah Grayson and his weird obsession with perfectionism and cleanliness. It was scary enough to keep Holtzmann's attention but educational enough so that Holtzmann could share this story with Abby and Erin when they returned.

"Jesus, Patty, there's so many beautiful things happening inside that brain of yours."

Patty smiled and gave a one-shouldered shrug.

"What can I say?"

By the time they reached Grayson Springs, it was midday. Patty was still struggling with the idea that she was on a camping trip. And Holtzmann was still struggling with the idea that she was going on a camping trip with Patty.

The plan to work up alone time with her favorite person had been a work in progress. For the most part, Patty and Holtzmann spent most of their working time together, but she needed more than busting to get close to Patty. While Erin and Abby were off in the corner in their Yatesbert Huddle (a name Patty coined), writing out equations on notepads, receipts, napkins, and any other thing they could find; Patty and Holtzmann were having their own little Toltzmann Connection (a name Holtzmann created) where they talked about buildings and science and how the two fit perfectly together.

"I'm going to put the tent together and you are going to set up camp," Patty easily gave instructions as they pulled all the items from the trunk of the car.

A little girl passed them with her mother and gasped loudly at the sight of the two Ghostbusters. Holtzmann spotted her and gave her finger guns and the little girl shyly did the same.

Patty watched her interact with the little girl and laughed.

"My cousin Cecilia has four girls and every last one of them want to know every single thing I do when I'm with y'all. It's so cute but they don't know that I spend a lot of my time arguing with you about the weight of these proton packs."

"Well to be fair, you've been helping with the containment chambers a lot," Holtzmann said with a shrug, putting a bag over her shoulder. "And nobody has ever caught on to the phrases and terms in engineering as fast as you have. It's pretty impressive."

"I like to hear you talk about it and I like to learn new things," Patty said absently.

"Thanks, Patty," Holtzmann watched her for a moment, then emptied the contents of the bag.

It took a little work and a lot of cursing on Patty's part but eventually the tent was up and Holtzmann had made a very impressive spread and campfire.

"I know you probably think I'm a hot mess but let me tell you, I'm efficient, mama. I can make anything out of anything."

"First of all, I know you aren't a hot mess. Different, yes but you are definitely not a hot mess. You made a proton gun with scrap metal. No, I know for sure you're efficient."

"But also in so many other ways," She leaned back, kicking a leg out while looking up at Patty.

Patty shook her head, "Why you always doin' that?"

"Doing what, gorgeous?" Holtzmann sat up, and rested her elbows on her knees.

"Flirting."

"Well, you know, it's just my thing. It's what I do." Holtzmann gave her lopsided grin.

Patty hated how cute she was sometimes.

"Well, you can't flirt with me like that," Patty picked up a stick and picked at some leaves that hadn't been charred by the campfire.

"Why not?" Holtzmann leaned in close, her cheek pressing against Patty's arm.

Patty looked down at her and laughed, "Because I'll flirt back and then you'll want to marry me and all that. And we can't be having that. Can we?"

"Are you kidding me? That’s been my scheme the entire time!” Holtzmann exclaimed. She jumped up and held her arms up high to the sky. "Do you hear that world?" She looked at Patty with a giddy smile.

"Holtzy. Baby. Please." Patty was warning her, trying to keep her quiet.

" _I'M GOING TO MARRY PATRICIAN TOLAN_!" She shouted to the moon and then just for good measure, she howled.

Patty watched her in stunned silence and stayed that way for a moment until she realized she was gawking at Holtzmann and stood up, dusting her hands on her pants. She walked over to Holtzmann and grabbed her by the arm, pulling her back.

This was only the first night.

“Holtzy, as flattering as this declaration of love is I don’t think you wanna’ get kicked out of this camp for disturbing the peace on the first night.”

“Do you know that my old neighbors actually called the police on me and said I was disturbing the peace once because there were a few blasts coming from my apartment.” She put her thumb and pointer up to show how loud the noise was by making a small space between them.

“Yeah, actually, I can see that,” Patty replied.

“But I’m still alive!” Holtzmann clapped her hands together and looked up at Patty, eyes twinkling in the moonlight and campfire. 

Patty looked down at her and laughed. They talked for a few more hours, about Erin and Abby, the direction being a Ghostbuster was taking, and what they would do in the future. Patty talked about finishing her doctorate at CUNY and Holtzmann said she would help her every step of the way (even if she did hate History). By the time there was silence between them it was nearing midnight.

Too tired to do anything else, they ate apple and banana chips, drank the remainng juice they’d bought at a small convenience store on the way up, and headed to their respective sleeping arrangements with heavy eyelids.

“Patty?”

It almost shocked Patty how timid Holtzmann sounded. She stopped before crawling into her tent and looked back.

“Thank you for doing this. It means a lot to me.”

Patty nodded her head.

“You don’t have to thank me for doing this. I’m your friend, Holtzy. I may not be the best camper but I think I’m a damn good friend.”

"Ugh, Patty?"

"Yup!"

Holtzmann was silent.

Patty sighed, "You forgot your sleeping bag, didn't you?"

"I did."

Patty stuck her head out of the tent and looked at Holtzmann for a moment. "You know I should leave your ass out here but since you so cute..." she gave a jerk of her head and Holtzman hurried over and climbed into the tent.

The two got comfortable under the sheets, Holtzmann smiling from ear to ear, lying on her back and looking at the roof of their tent while Patty was clearly trying to get sleep.

"Good night, Holtzmann."

Patty turned on her side and curled up just a little, her backside bumping ever so slightly against Holtzmann. Holtzmann looked at her backside then at the back of her head. She couldn't help herself. She turned on her side and wrapped her right arm over Patty and snuggled her face against her back. 

"Goodnight, Patty."

Patty’s breathing was evened out but that didn’t stop the smile to spread across her lips.


	3. A Lovely Way To Die ...or Not

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Holtzmann succeeds on getting Patty to go camping with her. And then of course, she gets lost.

Three days had passed and even with sharing tents and stories, Patty still wasn't relaxing the way Holtzmann felt like she should. It wasn't because of Holtzmann, that much was true. The two women sang all of Holtzmann's favorite 80s tunes, they flirted, danced, and even awkwardly shuffled around how the tent would be adjusted (since Holtzmann straight up admitted she forgot her sleeping bag on purpose the second day).

But it was still not helping to ease the "we're out here relaxing while Erin and Abby were fighting ghosts" guilt.

"Do you think they're doing okay? I mean, I texted them a couple of times and they said they were fine. But you know, fine can mean so many things."

Holtzmann shook her head.

"And you need to get your phone set up, Holtzy. Anything could happen. What if mine isn't available?"

She'd had enough.

"That's it, we're going on a hike today," Holtzmann grabbed Patty by the hand and pulled her away from the camp.

"Right now?!" Patty protested, standing up anyway.

Holtzmann nodded her head.

"Shouldn't we take some items with us?"

"No, we'll be back for the sun goes down!" Holtzmann stated with a grunt, tugging extra hard on Patty's hand. Patty could have easily just stopped the smaller woman from dragging her but hey, she liked the attention so she let herself be the center of attention this time.

As they passed, Holtzmann and Patty waved to their neighbors that were feet away from them and the new friends they'd made thanks to Patty's extremely gregarious personality.

"Did you know Bob and Linda thought we were married?" Patty asked nonchalantly as she followed behind Holtzmann, waving at everyone she saw.

Holtzmann paused and looked over her shoulder at Patty. Suddenly, her heart was beating very fast.

"Is there a problem with that?"

Patty turned up the corner of her lips and rolled her eyes.

"Do I even need to answer that?"

Relieved, Holtzmann continued her journey, dragging Patty through the woods.

"Holtzy," Patty was looking down at her feet so she wouldn't trip over uprooted limbs and branches, "I thought it was pretty much obvious by now. Why you think we're the only ones occupying the second floor now days? Erin and Abby been trying to set us up since you said I was pretty and I called you cute."

Holtzmann's mouth formed into a small 'o'.

"So that's why they left last Thursday at the same time." She was saying this like it was a completely new discovery.

"I thought you went camping with me because you felt sorry for me."

Patty sighed dramatically.

"You made a Patty Playlist. I don't know what your idea of obvious is but that screams something to me," she followed with a burst of laughter. Her laugh was always loud and booming, carefree - the best kind of laugh in Holtzmann's opinion. And the only way Patty would ever laugh, you better believe it!

"Is that your way of asking me out?" Holtzmann asked through a stumble of words.

"Baby, if I wait for you I'll have a better chance dating a behemoth."

Holtzmann snorted, "That's a fair assumption. But listen, Patty Cakes, I would like to take you out to dinner or something."

Patty was pretty sure that "or something" was much stronger than actual dinner. She looked around, frowning. This was starting to get worrying. How many times had she warned all those black kids in horror films not to follow behind their white friends because they always always ended up getting brutally murdered. And what was she doing now?

"Ummm...where are we going?"

"I told you, I'm a human compass, doll."

"Okay, so Abby said that and I was thinking maybe she was joking but I never really know with you."

"Know this, Patty Tolan, I am very fond of you." Holtzmann stopped without warning, causing Patty to bump into the back of her.

Holtzmann gave an "oomph" and turned around to look up at Patty with a smile.

She stood up on the tips of her toes and attempted to press her lips to Patty's. But despite this attempt at matching the height difference, Holtzmann still came short and her lips collided with Patty's chin and her nose bumped against her lips.

Patty chuckled and placed her hands on Holtzmann's shoulders.

"You had all the opportunities in the world to kiss me and you pick this time," she leaned down a little to meet Holtzmann's lips and the two women locked lips, their eyes slowly closing.

Neither woman was sure how long they stayed that way but the moment Holtzmann was backed against a tree with Patty's hands on her hips and her feet slightly elevated off the ground, she knew they were winning.

When Holtzmann's hands moved over the curves of Patty's backside, giving her behind a squeeze, it was enough to pull Patty from her lust induced haze.

"We should head back to our campsite now."

Holtzmann's lips were still in mid-pucker when Patty pulled away and even if she was out of breath, she was ready for more. Patty took a step back and she just took a step forward, moving off the tree.

"Holtzy, we need to go back. It's dark out here." When she realized Patty wasn't playing around, Holtzmann adjusted her breasts, straightened out her vest, and turned to leave.

But there was one problem...

"Hmm," Holtzmann mused softly and walked towards a clearing in the woods. Her hand slipped from Patty's and she narrowed her eyes with a very serious expression.

"What is 'hmm'?" Patty asked, watching Holtzmann moving from side to side.

"I can't remember how we came in," Holtzmann admitted.

She walked from clearing to clearing until she'd made her fourth trip round and Patty stomped her foot hard enough to get Holtzmann to stop.

"Hold _UP_!" She put a hand in the air like she was telling Holtzmann to stop. Actually, no she was telling Holtzmann to stop.

She looked at her with an expression on her face that clearly that was not one of amusement.

"We're lost, aren't we?"

Holtzmann pursed her lips and tapped them with her pointer fingers. She gazed around at the abandoned area and made another soft "hmm" sound as if she were deep in thought.

"Human compass my ass, we're lost!" Patty yelled, looking up to the darkening sky.

"We aren't lost. If we put our heads together we'll get back to camp in no time!" Holtzmann held her arms out and did a spin.

Patty watched her and shook her head.

"All the time fighting ghosts I thought I was gonna die and now I realize that I'm actually gonna die in the woods with Holtzy."

Holtzmann turned around abruply and danced her way over to Patty.

" _And if a double decker buuuus, crashes into uuuuuus. Tonight by your siiiide is such a heavenly way to diiiiii_ ie," she wiggled her fingers and turned them into a finger guns, dancing closer to Patty.

Patty was looking at her phone, frowning.

"Aw man, we ain't got service in this clearing."

She turned her back to Holtzmann and lifted her cell phone high into the sky. Holtzmann was still serenading Patty with The Smiths, despite Patty completely ignoring her.

"You know where romance works best?"

There was silence and then Patty yelled, "Not in the woods! That's where it works best! We could be on the beach, sipping mojitos and sun bathing or whatever the fuck it is you do on a beach!"

Then the strangest thought appeared in her mind and suddenly she was wondering how many floral print shirts Holtzmann owned while Holtzmann imagined Patty in several different types of bathing suits.

"How mad are you at me?" Holtzmann asked, running around the clearing again.

"Only slightly but if we stay out here another hour, I'm gonna be pissed."

"Well let's go then," Holtzman slammed her arms down to the side. "I figured out how to get out of here."

Patty glared at the back of Holtzmann's head but they were leaving out of the clearing now. Holtzmann stopped, turned around to smile at Patty, and held out her hand.

"You owe me a back massage now," Patty fussed although still following behind Holtzmann.

"Oh it's gonna be full body," Holtzmann boasted, heading back to their campsite.

She looked at the wriggling fingers and realized that if she would get lost, she may as well get lost with Jillian Holtzmann. She took her hand and gave it a firm squeeze.

To die by your side, indeed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And we've reached the end! I hope you guys loved it. And there will be more. Thank you all so much for reviews and kudos and loves and links. I love this ship so much!


End file.
